Paperweight
by meguhbot
Summary: Sometimes Unrequited love isn't really so unrequited. My entry for The Lemonade Stand's Lyrics & Lemons contest.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** This was my entry in _The Lemonade Stand's Lyrics & Lemons Contest_.

I wanted to do something short and sweet. This was my first one-shot, ever.

**TLS Lyrics and Lemons Contest**

Song: Paperweight by Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk

**http : / / tinyurl . com / 6a8c2el**

Rating: M

Word Count: 1647

Pairing: Edward/Bella

Summary: Sometimes unrequited love really isn't so unrequited.

Disclaimer: I don't own Edward, or anything Twilight related. I also don't own the amazing voice of Schuyler Fisk or Joshua Radin. Quite frankly, my singing stinks.

**Paperweight**

It's late, like _really _late. I've been up all night. Alice is inside, completely wasted, giggling and snuggling with Jasper.

I've been staring at her older brother Edward, all night. I wonder what he's thinking.

Edward is two years older than Alice and I. Up until about three years ago, when he moved to Chicago for college, we were all really close.

He's been back for a week. I've been trying to keep my distance, all the while dying to see him. He finally called me, telling me my ass better come over, or he would kidnap me. We're at his apartment, on the balcony. The night air is warm, but there's that warm, sticky, almost sun-shiny feeling. It's summer.

He's sitting across from me, slowly strumming his guitar. I'm trying really hard not to stare. Even in the moonlight, his green eyes shine bright. I try to distract myself. I count the stars and stare at the moon to see if it's still the same.

It is.

It's hard not to look at him; he's in front of me. In a white tank top and red shorts. He's barefoot, even his feet are pretty.

I hate feet.

I play with a string on my shorts, trying to decide if I want to find Alice or not.

Edward leans over, and takes a sip of his beer. He watches me as I watch him. I don't know if it's from the late night and how tired I am, but I don't even try to look away this time.

He smiles, and his foot nudges my leg. "Look at you, Itsa-bella. You're all ...drunk now." I used to hate that name. My brother Emmett was on my shit-list for the longest for even telling Edward about it, but I kinda started to love it. When he smiles like that though, he could really call me anything.

I ignore the drunk comment. He's really the drunk one.

My foot nudges him back, "I can't believe you're a college graduate. You're, like, old now."

He reaches out, catching my foot, smirking.

"I'm twenty five...that's hardly old."

I smile at him when he smiles back.

"Five more years, and you'll be thirty..." He tickles my foot, making me laugh.

"Edward, no. I'm going to pee on myself. Like, really." I kick and I squirm.

He finally stops, laughing with me.

I shrug. There were no guys, none of significance. No one could ever mean more to me than Edward Cullen...who just happens to think I'm his sister.

"_I love you, Bell." Four words I've wanted to hear since I could remember, but immediately, all excitement leaves my body._

"_..you're like a sister to me. I'll miss you Itsabella. Take care of yourself." _

_I nod, as he gets into Emmett's jeep. He'll be gone for the next three years._

He picks up my other foot, looking at both of them. Before I can say anything, he talks.

"Hmm amazing, you really don't have two left feet. Who woulda thunk it." He smirks, his crooked, beautiful smirk.

I grab a bottle cap, throwing it at him. I miss.

This makes him laugh harder. Before I know it, he's pulling my legs.

"C'mere." I raise an eyebrow, half wondering what he's up to. Half eager, I stand.

He pats next to him, and I sit, turning to face him. My legs on his lap. He puts them there.

He turns, and a strand of hair falls over his forehead.

His fingers are stroking my calves and soon they're higher- on my thighs, and I try not to think of it.

"Does Alice get the same awesome sisterly treatment as I'm getting right now?" I rush out. I immediately close my eyes, because I'm scared to look at him. This can get so bad. I'm not so drunk that I don't realize he's flirting with me; I know, I just don't know if he means it.

He's silent for a while, and when I finally open my eyes and look at him, he's staring at me. His eyes are serious, but then they soften.

"Do you remember that night I came over?" He's nervous, and I realize he's not as drunk as I thought he was.

I try to think back to all the times he came over. Most of the time it was for Emmett.

I raise my eyebrow.

"That time I climbed up the tree, and knocked on your window." He clarifies.

I nod, wondering where he's going with this. "You mean that time I almost pushed you out of the tree? That was so creepy…"

He ignores me, running his hands through his hair.

"All day I paced back and forth, trying to talk myself into asking you to meet me in our meadow…I was leaving the next day, and I needed to tell you…"

"You needed to tell me that my truck had a flat tire?" I ask, "At four in the morning?"

He lets out a laugh. "No, I needed to tell you had been all I thought about for the last two years…and would be all I thought about for the next three."

He moves so that he's leaning over me. He's so close.

"I freaked out. You were there, in Jake's t-shirt. I saw the pictures of you…I freaked out. I knew it would be a shitty thing- to tell you that I was in love with you while you had a boyfriend and then leave…All I wanted to do was kiss you"

I should be over the moon now; and I am...kind of. I want to write down every word he says. Tomorrow morning, I don't want to forget anything.

"So the next day you tell me you love me like a sister?"

"I was such a wuss."

"…I don't have a boyfriend now." I say, finally looking him in the eyes. His eyes meet mine; I feel his hand on my hip.

"No, you don't."

"I really want you to kiss me, now...but only if you want to. Don't fee…"

"Bella." He says, moving closer. "Shut up."

He kisses me, then. His lips are soft, and his hands are firm. It's nothing like I imagined; its better.

When he pulls away, he rests his forehead on mine.

"What are you thinking?" he asks, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"It's you. It's always been you-If you would have told me, how you felt; I think I would have said the same thing."

He kisses me again, and now he's on top of me. His weight is welcomed. He covers me like a blanket. A paperweight.

I pull away. "I don't know how you didn't know…"

I think back to all our moments, anything to do with him.

_It's his second year away, and it's Christmas. It's the first time I'll see him since he left. Alice calls me, before she picks me up._

"He's brought a girl with him."

_The girl in question has curly red hair, and grey eyes. Her name is Victoria. She's beautiful._

_When Alice and I get to the Cullen's, Edward is immediately there. He's hugging me and telling me how much he missed me. I let myself think for just a minute that he means it different than the way he tells Alice. _

"What about Victoria? You two were cozy together. You sure didn't seem to be thinking of me then."

"Victoria? We were only friends, She had just broken up with her boyfriend James- She wasn't going home. I asked her to come with me to try to cheer up, get her mind off of things…"

I raise my eyebrow at him.

"…and okay, I wanted to make you jealous…."

"Well, it worked." I nudge him with my feet.

He smiles at me, and I smile back. The atmosphere changes and the electricity between us that usually just hums is buzzing and screaming in my head.

Before I know it, he's sitting up, and then he grabs my hand.

He pulls me inside, kissing me the whole way. I don't know what this means, my brain is fuzzy with alcohol and feelings and Edward's kisses… his words.

".._mess up my bed with me_…" he says, laying me down. I smile at the lyrics he sings.

His hands are on me, and mine are on him. His hands are rough, his lips are soft. I breathe in as he breathes out. When he enters me, I've never felt anything like it before. Everyone else just blurs in comparison.

"I can't believe we've wasted all of this time." I say, when we're breathing heavy and his bed is _definitely _messed up. My hand is on his chest over his heart.

His arms go around my waist, pulling me closer.

That night, I fall in and out of sleep, hoping that in the morning there is no weirdness, and that he means it.

He wakes up, when I'm falling back to sleep. He strokes my cheek, my lips. I feel him shift, and then he's kissing my forehead.

"I love you." He whispers. "_No more wasting time_._"_

The next morning, when I wake up and he groans about the sunlight shining in his eyes, I laugh. When I try to get up, he pulls me down.

I think about fighting him, trying to do something nice, but honestly? I'm done fighting.

This time, I cover him and he hums in my ear, singing.

_Just happy to be here, just happy to know you_


	2. Chapter 2

**I couldn't leave this story alone. It couldn't leave me alone. It's also been the first time in eight months I've been more than excited about writing something. So here's to that.**

**Not beta'd. Be gentle.**

**xo**

"_Hey, Bell. Whatcha doin? Yeah me either...It's a pretty day outside... Great for our meadow, wanna meet me there in ten minutes?"_

"_Meet me in our meadow in five minutes."_

"_I'll be at your house in five minutes, be ready. We need to talk."_

_I cast a look at the floor, amazed that there isn't a trail. I've been in my room picking up the phone, putting it down only to throw it back down or across the room, for hours. I'm running out of time._

_The walls are mostly the same, but my closet is bare. Pictures of Bella, Ali, Em and I that Bella had insisted I put in my room, are packed away too. There's one of her and I in my wallet. _

_Another one, she'd kill me if she saw it, for more than one reason. It was the day we skipped class for the first time, we went to First beach. I took a picture of her when she fell asleep in the sand, her head on my legs. Her hair frames her face, and the sun makes her look paler than ever. She's always been beautiful,but that day, she was happy; truly happy since the first time her mom died._

_Charlie didn't try to kill me when I told him this. I still saw his hand and mustache twitch._

"_Jesus! I'm talking to myself now." I pull my hands through my hair. What do I have to lose, honestly? _

_She can reject me, and then I leave; no harm, no foul._

_I shake my head. I have everything to lose. _

_She's everything._

_Two hours later, the sky is dark. I've wasted a whole day. I look at the clock. I leave in six hours._

_I make up my mind right then and there. _

_I grab my keys, tell mom and dad that I'll be back._

_The ride to her house is so familiar. I eye the front door, and then her window. Hers is the only light on. I know Emmett is home, and so is Charlie._

_I eye the tree outside the window. I try not to think about how hurtful it would be if she pushes me out of the tree. I think, I'd deserve it for what I'm about to do. I watch her for a few minutes. She has her phone between her ear and shoulder, sketch pad in front of her. Smile on her face._

_I knock on the window. She looks at the door, confusion crossing her face, before she turns to the window. She jumps up when she sees me, and throws the phone on the bed._

"_What the hell are you doing?You're going to fall!" _

"_I'm good... I was just passing by and well, I had to tell you..." I trail off. She's wearing a _La Push High t-_shirt. His. Pictures line her mirror, outshining the ones of her and I._

_Any nerve I had, well it's gone._

"_Had to tell me...? What the hell? You're acting so weird, Edward." _

"_I..You..." I lean in,a few more inches and I could kiss her... show her instead of tell her._

"_You have a flat tire. Passenger side, rear."_

_I'm such a wuss._

"_Oh...okay. Thanks." Confusion crosses her face, and she pushes my shoulder. "You scared the shit out of me!" _

_I laugh. "Uh yeah, well I gotta go. See you tomorrow?"_

_She nods, the confusion leaves her face. "I wouldn't miss it for the world, Edward."_

"You're really doing this?!" Esme asks, she's over-excited, even if she's asked me one million times since I _told _her what I wanted to do.

I nod, fingering the small diamond ring that belonged to my grandmother. It's perfect for Bella. Small, square with tiny diamonds surrounding it.

"Yes, mom." I laugh, spinning the ring around my pinky. "Do you think she'll say yes?"

It's the same question I've asked one million and two times. The nervousness finds it's way back up. Even if we've known each other for most of our lives, it's been a year since that night.

Alice of course, was over the moon excited. She was also pissed off the that we spent the whole weekend in my apartment, and she had no idea. We actually got something past her.

I asked Bella to move in with me when we were together for two months. Charlie eyed me for a couple of minutes, then he smiled.

"Congrats son." he said, slapping me on the back a little harder than necessary. The message was received, loud and clear. I'd deal with him, and Emmett if anything happened to her.

"Son, that girl has loved you since you flung her in mud.." Mom laughs.

Bella says it's true, that she didn't know it and when she knew she did, it was too late.

"_So, when did you know?" She asks, her voice is soft and I can feel her breath on my chest._

"_I think a part of me always knew, ya know?" I pull her closer._

"_That day we skipped class. It was the first time you seemed really happy. I knew I would do anything to make you smile like that."_

"_It was because you were there."_

_I smile and kiss her forehead. "What about you? When did you know?"_

"_I...I can't remember a time that I didn't love you, Edward."_

_I kiss her then, slow, long and deep._

"_Why did we waste so much time?" She whispers._

**be ready shes coming up**

"Edward? Babe?"

I hear her heels clicking, and then they stop. I watch as she looks around, sees the candles, rose petals. Finally, her heels click again.

I take a deep breath, waiting.

Finally, she's there in front of me. On one knee, the song I wrote for her playing softly in the background.

She looks at the ring in my hands, and before I know it, she's there.

"Edward." She whispers. I look up at her, smiling.

"Bella, will you marry me?" I ask, holding in a deep breath. This is us. We don't need fancy words, or deep confessions. That was what Alice told me when I asked her to help me. Keep it simple.

I hold the ring up, not breathing, waiting.

Before I know it, she's wrapping her arms around me, kissing me.

"Yes. Yes. Yes!" she says, laughing.

I pull back, and the smile on her face, the look in her eyes, I breathe again. Putting the ring on her finger, it's the second to best feeling, ever.

"I love you." I whisper.

I pick her up, carrying her inside as I kiss her. Her arms are around my neck, hands in my hair. Her legs wrap around my hips, as I carry her to our bedroom.

I lean down, placing her on the bed. She kicks off her shoes.

"I knew you were up to something." She says in between kisses.

"Yeah?" I ask, kissing her neck, hands on her hips.

"Mmm." She sighs, my hands find their way under her shirt.

"I should call Alice." She whispers, as my hands push her shirt up, off.

"No, you should stop thinking about my sister..." I trail off as her hands run down my chest, stomach to the button of my jeans.

She's pulling and pushing. I'm taking and giving, and soon there are no boundaries. It's just us.

"Edward." She whispers as I enter her. It may be the millionth time since a year ago, tonight. Each time is like the first time. It's always perfect when I push and she pulls. She gives, I take. Her hands are everywhere, but they find her favorite place, in my hair.

Unlike that night a year ago, I know she has the smallest freckle on her thigh. I know she likes it when I go slow, and fast.

"I love you." She breathes and I know she's close, "I can't wait to be your wife."

I close my eyes as the sweetest,most intense, beautiful feeling shoots through me.

Later, after we've called our families, we're laying in bed.

"Vegas." She whispers, "tonight."

I watch her, waiting.

"Bella?" I say.

She sits up, "Alice can have her big frou-frou wedding but, I need to tie myself to you as soon as possible.

I smile. "Yeah?"

"Tonight."

We have one of those moments, the kind where we seem to read each others thoughts.

"_No more wasting time."_

And we don't.


End file.
